Mafia Science Convention
by 1arigato
Summary: It should have been simple, really: attend a mafia science convention without attracting attention. But Shouichi has ten years of experience with time and space axes and box weapon technology, and his day is getting filled with familiar faces and famous names…. Tags: 51-centric, gen, Arcobaleno, Innocenti, Koenig, Cervello, mental traces of certain TYL!Millefiore members


Guide: in this fic, Shouichi is referred to as auburn-haired or an auburnette.

* * *

Glo Xinia sighed as he took in the mafia science convention he attended for the sake of gathering information. He was miffed at the rumours circulating about the upcoming tenth generation leaders of the mafia's regal top dog, the Vongola Famiglia. The glasses-wearing freelancer didn't care much for the exaggerations of the Tenth Generation's strength except for those of the illusionist, Rokudo Mukuro, whose reputation exceeded that of even the Arcobaleno illusionist's — or was it ex-Arcobaleno, now? There was too much Glo needed to catch up on. Still, an illusionist younger than Glo but supposedly better? Granted, Glo started late in harnessing illusory abilities, but he prided in his abilities to be known as a dependable freelance.

"If a man doesn't fall for my charms, I don't care about him, but it's only your sharp mind that's keeping me here. You aren't a simpleton like other men."

_Then_ there was that Afro-headed woman who was Glo's company for the convention, apparently. Self-appointed company, if Glo had a say; the woman certainly seemed to rely on men for a sense of power. She was in the convention because she was an actual scientist — in the biological field, from what Glo could gather. They were both quickly growing tired of the convention and of each other's personalities, however. If they encountered anything or anyone more strange, they were hightailing out of there.

"Miss. Hepburn," Glo glanced at the woman, "as flattered as I am by your—" _poor _"—compliments, I've got information to gather." "A pointless endeavour, really," Iris Hepburn huffed. "Ask any mafia child, and they'll tell you that Rokudo Mukuro is as good as rumours go." "Children are idiots," Glo countered. "They'll confirm something even if they don't have supporting evidence."

* * *

_This isn't going to end well,_ Shouichi decided.

The auburnette had originally planned to attend the science convention without attracting much attention, but with Vongola's weariness of him and the subsequent assignment of two Cervello women to watch over him during his year-long probationary period, Shouichi's goal was becoming but a fantasy.

Destra and Sinistra — the Cervello women on Shouichi's right and left — were pretty in an exotic way with their masks, tanned skin, and pink hair; the existence of a meek-looking boy between the women with only a manila folder under his arm to show for at a mafia science convention drew many looks. Spanner had come as well, and Destra and Sinistra respectfully followed Shouichi at a distance so that Spanner could walk alongside their auburn-haired charge.

At the convention's entrance, the group of four had flashed their visitor's badges to enter, but a guardsman had stopped Shouichi and Spanner. Before Destra and Sinistra could speak up, Shouichi had interjected with the polite question if authentic badges weren't enough, but the guard was unrelenting.

"Kids aren't allowed in," the guard repeated.

_This _really_ isn't going to end well,_ Shouichi repeated in his mind.

When he realised that the commotion was drawing more attention than the group of four had already, Shouichi summoned on a calmer exterior to cover up his embarrassment as if the calmness he projected would somehow become real. Spanner glanced at his friend with hidden amusement, too familiar with his former — or future, if one got technical — superior's unique traits. Spanner wondered how much more of a push was needed to send his friend into stomach pains. Shouichi, meanwhile, wondered if he had to reveal that he was from Vongola just to enter the convention, and throwing a name like "Vongola" around was sure to draw more than just curiosity.

"He is with me," a young voice suddenly came up.

"Verde-san!" Shouichi identified in surprise. In his nervousness, he had not realised that the former Arcobaleno was present until the scientist had spoken up.

"V-Verde?" the guard echoed in awe and shock. "In that case, g-go right ahead." Spanner made sure to give the guard a haughtily amused look when Shouichi didn't take advantage of the embarrassing situation; the auburnette wasn't the kind to do so unless it was necessary to maintain a certain persona, so Spanner took advantage of this to let loose his mischievous side a bit. There was a reason how a laid-back ma—_boy_ like him invented the worst kinds of Moscas.

"Verde-san, when did you get here?" Shouichi asked as his blonde friend inwardly chuckled at the guard's suddenly pale face.

"I noticed you were having some trouble with security, so I thought I might give a hand before you attracted too much attention," Verde replied, noting how Shouichi purposefully walked at a slower pace to give Verde an easier time walking alongside him. He also noted how there were two pink-haired women shadowing Shouichi, and said boy was aware but not wary of it. Bodyguards, perhaps? "Announcing yourself as Vongola would be troublesome, right?" Verde continued.

"Traveling around with you would still attract attention…" Shouichi muttered, half to himself, half to Verde. "Not everyone will recognise me right away," Verde shrugged. Shouichi looked surprised. "Even without the pacifier, there aren't exactly many baby-looking scientists in the world." "People can be idiots," Verde said flatly. Shouichi laughed awkwardly. "I see…."

* * *

In the middle of Verde's talk of sun rings with Shouichi, Spanner excitedly — and characteristically monotonously, if that was possible — interrupted with something about Mosca components and a far side of the convention area, and Verde and Spanner left for different directions with assurance that the five of them could meet at the centre of the convention when they were done. Shouichi didn't mind — he rather liked exploring science conventions himself — but this was a _mafia_ one, and who knew what or who Shouichi could come across—

Glo Xinia and Iris Hepburn.

_Craaap._

Shouichi slowed down at the sight of the younger faces of his former fellow Millefiore members. They were occupied in their own private conversation, which meant that they hadn't noticed the thin, auburn-haired boy shadowed by twin female mafiosi yet. When Shouichi picked up bits if their conversation, he relaxed marginally that they didn't have their memories from the future, and with a quick glance at his watch, he knew Verde and Spanner could be waiting at the centre of the convention already. Time flew when Shouichi got immersed in mechanics. The convention was certainly a treasure trove of ideas and data….

Determined to slide past Glo and Iris without attracting their attention with his green-looking, childish look, Shouichi gathered his composure, and if anyone from the future looked at him now, they would have recognised the Millefiore squad captain who was, in even the most chaotic situations, a level-headed strategist.

When Shouichi slipped past Glo and Iris, Destra called out a quick, "Irie-sama!" before something heavy suddenly slammed into him, and Shouichi only had a moment to recollect himself before looking up to see a mussy, red-haired young man. "Woah, I'm really sorry!" the man apologised. Shouichi nodded once and took the man's clumsy nature in stride, reflecting a calmness and maturity years beyond his physical age. Inwardly, though, he was panicking. _No! I want to leave Glo and Iris's sight as soon as possible! I need to leave now! _

The man who bumped into Shouichi was obviously very uncoordinated and knew it, as the redhead kept apologising to Shouichi and repeating "I'm sorry" in five other languages just in case Shouichi didn't understand, which were probably the only words the red-haired man knew in said languages. Glo and Iris watched the adult-like kid and the childish adult — for the commotion the red-haired man was making was hard to miss — in amusement.

"The kid probably doesn't even know the man before him is Innocenti," Iris commented. "As I meant before: children are idiots," Glo smirked. Finally, with the insistance to move to the intended location quickly to his female company, the auburn-haired teen and the two pink-haired women walked away, ever calm. Innocenti, the red-haired young man, was still left in a mess, his clothes untidy and the lab coat he was wearing on top slightly wrinkled.

"Aww, man. I better stop doing that," Innocenti muttered as he ruffled vermillion locks in slight irritation with himself, when his eyes spotted a paper and a badge on the floor. "Must be the kid's," he thought aloud as he bent over to pick the items up, and Glo and Iris watched in astonishment when Innocenti shot up in amazement with his eyes sparkling in childish delight. "This—is—_genius!_ These schematics, and these descriptions!" When Innocenti was done fanboying over the paper, he straightened up and looked about the crowd. "Where is he? I must see that boy again!"

Iris nearly jumped when the famous scientist approached her with the question of having seen an auburn-haired teenager with glasses recently, to which Glo gave a general direction where the teen had disappeared into the crowd. Deciding they had seen enough unique characters, Glo and Iris agreed they were leaving the convention early. As they left, unaware they had witnessed the beginning of something great, Innocenti moved to dash off in the direction he was given, but a bored-looking teenager sucking on a lollipop pulled on the back of Innocenti's collar and pointed at the paper in his hands.

"I don't think Shouichi would appreciate a complete stranger looking at his stuff," the blonde stated. The accusation didn't damper Innocenti's mood, however. "Do you perhaps know the boy? Is this paper his, or his teacher's?" "Shouichi doesn't have a teacher. That work is his own." "Splendid!" Innocenti cried. "This is remarkable! Your friend must be no older than sixteen and he's already blooming into a most beautiful mind!" Spanner didn't know what to think of the grown man before him sending sparkles everywhere in an energetic state. What had Shouichi gotten into this time…?

Meanwhile, said auburnette was nervously standing at the centre of the convention, his calm façade still in place. _Where are Spanner and Verde? Hopefully nothing bad happened to them._ Shouichi ran his fingers through his bangs to sweep them to the side over his glasses, before he sighed. Giggles sounded at his actions, and Shouichi glanced around him, but he couldn't find the source. _This place is too weird._

What the auburnette didn't know was that he gave off an almost untouchable presence, and thus caught the attention of not only miffed mafiosi, but _fangirls_. Fortunately for him, the females had not made themselves known to him yet, and the Cervello pair weren't part of the group. _Un_fortunately for him, the males made themselves known.

"A snot-nosed brat isn't allowed to bumble into this convention," one man confronted Shouichi. "Can you even solve an equation like this?" another appeared, shoving a paper in Shouichi's face. More mafia scientists crowded around the supposedly easy prey, and Shouichi pushed his glasses up his nose in exasperation.

"Gentlemen," Shouichi courteously began, and squeals mysteriously sounded in the background, "I am as qualified to be here as any of you." When he reached for his badge and only met air, however, the beginnings of a stomachache made themselves known, and Shouichi shoved down any outward evidence of his panicky mental state. _I must have lost my badge when that red-haired man ran into me!_

At the side, a greying black-haired man was sitting at a table, having just completed an arms deal. Despite his greying hair, the man had the features of a young man, and he was dressed smartly in contrast to the majority of the convention attenders who were in lab coats or casual wear. Beside him, a man dressed similarly leaned over a bit from where he stood. "I hope that group doesn't make a fool of us weapon scientists, Koenig."

The greying but young man, Koenig, exhaled shortly and looked away from the commotion, uninterested. His companion allowed a brief, amused smile at that, before a flash of red caught his eye. "Isn't that your fellow member of the secret Lorenzini organisation?" At the question, Koenig turned to look, and he recognised the exuberant redhead quickly approaching the group verbally harassing a teenager.

"Innocenti?" Koenig muttered to himself, and sighed as he stood up. "The art-obsessed idiot is going to run over that kid without noticing. _Hey, kid—!_" Before Koenig could finish his warning, Innocenti — instead of cutting a line through the group — pounced on the teenager in the centre and grabbed the teen's shoulders with excitement.

"Shou~i~chi~!" Innocenti sang, delighted he found his target. Trailing behind Innocenti was Spanner. Shouichi, struggling to maintain a composed demeanour, swallowed the shriek that wanted to leave his lips at being suddenly grabbed by a not-so-complete stranger. "Shouichi!" Innocenti repeated again when his target looked at him in recognition. "You're Shouichi, right? I finally got to meet you! Properly, that is. I'm sorry for running into you earlier. This is splendid, splendid!"

Shouichi shook his head to Destra and Sinistra, denying them permission to act on the man who suddenly grabbed him. Shouichi then looked around Innocenti and gave an unamused look at Spanner, who recognised the face of his ex-captain when the auburnette wanted an explanation. While still sucking on a lollipop, Spanner held up the badge Shouichi dropped, and Shouichi quickly glanced at his folder, realising a few papers were sticking out.

Unaware of Shouichi's internal state of panic, Innocenti held up the paper that had no doubt slipped out of Shouichi's folder when the two males collided earlier. "Your work is amazing, truly produced by a beautiful mind! What does FV stand for? It appears to describe an energy source, but what would you use to power something like this?" Innocenti's mouth kept running with exclamations and questions, when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Innocenti."

Said man turned and brightened at the familiar face. "Koenig! When did you get here?" The young arms dealer inwardly sighed at his associate's tendency to become oblivious to several things while very focused on a subject. "Leave the poor kid alone," Koenig advised, but when he flashed sharp gazes at the men around, Shouichi's bullies backed off and disappeared back to where they came from. Innocenti, unaware of his companion's scary act, smiled brightly.

"You should see Shouichi's designs! They are truly," "—Splendid?" Koenig predicted, all too familiar with the mannerisms of the red-haired aesthete. Innocenti hummed in confirmation and excitedly turned back to Shouichi. "So what _does_ FV stand for?"

Spanner and Shouichi traded glances when they discovered the names of the two men before them. Innocenti and Koenig? These two, along with Verde, were the minds behind completing Geppetto Lorenzini's 343 blueprints and producing box weapons!

While Spanner was more interested in Moscas like Verde, Shouichi had researched and understood box weapons in order for steps of his plan of betrayal to succeed, so his inner state of panic went from embarrassment that his small ideas were discovered by a talkative adult, to worry that a future filled with box weapons would exist. When Innocenti's vocal thoughts began theorising the energy source behind Shouichi's designs and getting close to discovering dying will flames as the answer, the auburnette snatched the paper with a short exclamation of, "I believe it's courtesy to not pry into other's inventions!"

At the unexpected, brief raise of voice, Koenig held back Innocenti from smothering the teenager before them with invitations to talk while the greying man properly looked at the auburnette. _So this quiet kid __**does**__ have an inner fire,_ Koenig mused, as he mentally noted that this "Shouichi," while an outwardly independent individual rarely affected by anything, also had an inner intensity. If Koenig was not the arms dealer he was, he would not have noticed that the teenager before him was actually secretly dangerous.

"Innocenti here is sorry for reading your paper without your consent," Koenig squeezed his associate's shoulder in a reminder, and the redhead began apologising in five languages again, "but this _is_ a _mafia_ science convention. If you don't have a badge, certain force can be taken into kicking you out."

Spanner chose that moment to approach Shouichi and hand over his previously lost item. "Shouichi, you dropped your badge earlier." "Spanner," Shouichi greeted, and with a straight face added, "you're late." Spanner could tell his friend was irritated with his bad timing, and the blonde tried hard not to let his amusement show. "I'm really sorry," he replied, but his flat tone — completely lacking a truly apologetic one — only made Shouichi's lips thin in a slight frown, and Spanner _knew_ the auburnette was experiencing a stomachache he didn't want the two influential scientists beside him to notice. Spanner was close to bursting in laughter at his friend's discomfort.

From an outsider's point of view, Innocenti was surprised that the blonde teen who was protective of his auburn-haired friend's work was acting almost like a subordinate to the auburnette, and when Innocenti whispered his thoughts with Koenig, an interested gleam flashed in the arms dealer's eyes. The presence of two women standing at either side of the auburn-haired teen also supported the idea that the auburnette was someone important.

After accepting the badge and pinning it back on his waist, Shouichi returned his loose sheet of paper back to its place in his folder, and Koenig caught a glimpse of more in-depth diagrams, notes, and numbers before the folder was snapped shut. Innocenti's fanboyish attitude towards the teen's work apparantly wasn't unfounded; Koenig was surprised to see works that could only come from a mind of high caliber — and such a mind belonging to a _teenager_ no less. The auburnette must still be going through puberty!

"I see you've met some associates of mine."

At the voice, the group turned to see Verde, who was looking at Shouichi and Spanner. "I still want some input on improvements for my Green Mosca, by the way," Verde addressed Spanner, who nodded with his usual bored expression. "I'll get on to it when I can," the blonde gestured at his handheld device, which looked like a small laptop.

"Verde-san," Shouichi finally stepped forward a bit, "you said you had found me sun rings?" The green-haired scientist nodded, and he reached into his coat to produce only one. "It was tough getting this," Verde referred to the convention-shy contacts he had met with before coming to the centre of the convention, "but I thought that with your flames, only a ring of higher purity could cut it."

Shouichi's lips thinned in hesitation of accepting such an item of value, but he secretly missed being able to release his flames without shattering a ring. After all, in the future, he powered for hours a machine that could rearrange buildings; he had plenty of flame energy, and it was difficult knowing what he was capable of but not allowed to do something of it.

Thanking Verde, Shouichi took the ring, before he realised two things — payment, and the ring's design. At Shouichi's stunned silence at the sight of the ring, Verde replied before Shouichi could ask his questions. "The marshmallow-obsessed one covered the expenses so long as he had some input in its design." The ring had the simple but elegant look of the Mare rings without wings, except a clear glass marble sat where a pale one should have been, and etched in a 3d fashion in the glass was a rose.

Spanner hummed at that. "He must be making fun of you, choosing a girly flower," the blonde commented, "or is he just reminding you of the Rose Squad?" Shouichi's face had softened into a smile the moment he saw the entirety of the ring design, however. To receive such a thing from Byakuran, Shouichi's once greatest enemy and secretly best friend…. Not only that, but how had Byakuran known that Shouichi had been hunting for sun rings that could withstand his flames?

Innocenti began exclaiming how beautiful the ring was, and Koenig raised a brow in surprise that the seemingly dangerous auburnette could make such a delicate face.

"People commonly imagine a red rose when they think of roses, and the red ones _do_ symbolise romantic affection," Shouichi admitted as he slipped on the ring, "but in the flower language, this one means something different, because it is actually supposed to be—" he lit the ring, "—yellow."

Brilliant starry flames had encompassed the glass marble and turned the clear etching into a glowing yellow rose, and Innocenti gushed over its beauty as Koenig was surprised to witness a rare ability. The only individuals Koenig confidently knew were able to use sun dying will flames were Vongola's sun guardian and the ex-Sun Arcobaleno….

Koenig glanced at Shouichi. The identities of the Arcobaleno and their respective attribute weren't commonly known, and with the pacifiers mysteriously gone and the Arcobaleno rumoured to refer to themselves as "ex-"Arcobaleno, accurate information was even harder to get. The fact that Verde and the two teens were familiar with each other to a level, and that the lollipop one wasn't wearing a ring or showing any signs of being able to produce flames, meant that this "Shouichi" was special in _some_ way.

Meanwhile, having noticed Innocenti's obvious desire to speak at length with Shouichi, Verde allowed a bit of his devious side out. "When are you going to ask these two to join your famiglia, Shouichi?" As expected, the auburnette's soft expression vanished instead for a stiff look; Spanner had mischievously and secretly shared a few tips with Verde over what to look for when reading Shouichi, and the ex-Lightning Arcobaleno amusedly noticed Shouichi had fallen into a cornered state at Verde's question.

"Why would I want to do that?" Shouichi managed to not hysterically and worriedly laugh at the end of his enquiry. Spanner joined in. "It's pretty standard; any famiglia wants to get bigger." "I would join," Koenig surprised Shouichi with his statement. "You look like a smart, dangerous guy." Shouichi stared at the greying young man, mentally panicking. _You're wrong, Koenig. I'm usually someone who looks dangerous but in reality is the very opposite!_

Innocenti grabbed Shouichi's hands with bright eyes that sent sparkles everywhere. "Same famiglia or not, I would love to speak with a beautifully-minded person like you! May we chat sometime? Maybe now? It would be splendid!"

Shouichi walked away from the science convention with a bouquet of yellow roses.

Innocenti had noticed Shouichi's soft spot for the flowers, though the redhead didn't know why, but the fact alone was enough to encourage him to thrust a bunch of yellow roses shipped from the nearest floral shop into Shouichi's hands before leaving in hopes the flora would encourage Shouichi to accept his invitations to talk sometime.

Verde parted ways with Spanner, Shouichi, and the Cervello pair after the convention as well, but not without Verde amusedly sharing that Koenig thought Shouichi was the ex-Sun Arcobaleno, much to Shouichi's embarrassment. Koenig had disappeared from the convention with a similarly dressed man, but Shouichi had not thought the thoughtful glance the arms dealer had given was directed at _him._ When Sinistra queried over the meaning behind the particular flowers in Shouichi's hands, all worry-filled thoughts were swept aside as the auburnette smiled.

"Yellow roses stand for friendship."

Byakuran thought of Shouichi as a best friend, too.

* * *

**A/N: Forgive me if this sounds choppy; it was originally intended to be part of my post-Rainbow Representative Battles fic, **_**High School Boss,**_** but I wanted that fic to be centred on Tsuna, and having two out of the first three chapters dedicated to Shouichi felt to defeat the purpose. Instead, I edited this chapter out to stand as a oneshot. Hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it~!**


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